InvenireX, a biotech spin-out based in Newcastle Upon Tyne, has closed a £2m seed round to bring to market a programmable DNA nanoscale technology platform designed to detect disease at extremely early stages. The funding round is led by DSW Ventures, with contributions from XTX Ventures, Cambridge Technology Capital, and biotech‐experienced angels, along with grant support from Innovate UK.
Established in 2023 from research at Newcastle University, InvenireX believes detection technologies have seen little fundamental change in decades. Its platform blends programmable DNA nanostructures (termed “Nanites”), custom microfluidic chips, and an AI-driven reader to isolate specific genetic markers and perform real-time quantification at sensitivities far exceeding conventional PCR methods.
In pilot evaluations the company reports a 200-fold sensitivity gain over qPCR, a 60-fold improvement compared to digital PCR, and simultaneous reductions in both test duration and cost - delivering numeric results in minutes instead of hours or days.
The implications are broad: the startup says tumours as small as one millimetre could be flagged up to ten years earlier, vaccine makers could validate active agent concentrations during production for the first time, and researchers may detect biology previously invisible.
Proceeds from the round will be used to grow the team and expand pilot programmes ahead of commercial launch, following a first pilot with a diagnostics partner that has committed to acquiring the initial instrument and further pilots in vaccine manufacturing and infectious-disease diagnostics underway.
